Your usual running points stand: always warm-up before heading out, work on your breathing, and have fun.

“The difference is that during the warm up you should consider warming up your core and your arms as well as your legs,” says Claire. She recommends doing hip circles and arm circles for whole body mobilisation.

As for running form, “take short steps and drive with the arms, and try to bend from the ankles rather than the hips in order to open the space in the lungs. Another thing you should do is scan the trail, about two to five metres ahead of you, rather than down at your feet. The terrain is likely to be more tricky than roads, so you want to be looking at it,” Claire suggests.

Trail running: everything you need to know about off-road runs